President Joe Biden, pictured speaking Oct. 22 at NHTI Concord Community College in Concord, New Hampshire. (Scott Eisen / Getty Images)
By Samuel Short October 30, 2024 at 7:05am
The White House is scrambling to cover for President Joe Biden’s tactless remarks in which he called former President Donald Trump’s supporters — that’s half the country at least — “garbage.”
While on a Zoom call with Voto Latino President and co-founder Maria Theresa Kumar on Tuesday evening, Biden addressed Trump’s massive rally that took place on Sunday at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The president decided to hop on the bandwagon in feigning outrage over a joke comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made about Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”
Biden took the language used by Hinchcliffe to insult Americans who back Trump.
“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden said.
In the White House transcript of the call, an apostrophe can now be found in the statement, making it read as follows: “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s.”
The implication is that Biden was referring to Hinchcliffe’s words — not to Trump voters. It’s an interpretation that doesn’t pass the smell test.
The clip of Biden speaking can be seen here. The viewer can surely discern what the president actually meant.
WATCH: President Joe Biden: “The only garbage I see floating out there is [Trump] supporters.” pic.twitter.com/9teSUOytqC
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) October 30, 2024
Is this comment from Biden going to hurt Kamala Harris’ chances?
MSNBC host Jonathan Lemire tried to keep the White House narrative intact by posting on social media platform X that Biden’s quote was “being taken out of context” with a screenshot of the transcript.
The full Biden quote from the Zoom tonight, which is being taken out of context: pic.twitter.com/fHT9PvVjiO
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) October 30, 2024
“Andrew,” the political commentator at the Don’t Walk, Run! site on YouTube, noted the irony in Lemire’s defense of the Biden White House distortion of the truth, as Lemire authored a book titled, “The Big Lie: Election Chaos, Political Opportunism, and the State of American Politics After 2020.”
The author of “The Big Lie” sure knows how to lie big for the Democrats. I know; You’re shocked.
— Andrew @ Don’t Walk, RUN! (@DontWalkRUN) October 30, 2024
There were plenty of other social media users who weren’t fooled by the apostrophe trick.
The official White House transcript needs to be immediately corrected. Notice the use of the apostrophe in the transcript
Joe Biden’s words were clear that he was stating Trump’s supporters were the garbage
Not Biden discussing Trump’s supporter’s garbage floating around pic.twitter.com/xDyyHZsZ53
— Kylie Jane Kremer (@KylieJaneKremer) October 30, 2024
I don’t know what is more insulting, that Biden called half the country garbage, or that the White House tried to cover it up with an apostrophe. They must really think the American People are idiots. #TrumpVance2024
— ❤~Stefie #NYGiants~❤ #YANKEES (@stefiegirlNYG) October 30, 2024
“51 Intelligence Agency Grammarians Agree There Is An Apostrophe In Biden’s ‘Garbage’ Statement.”
* NY Times headline tomorrow, probably
— Cruadin (@cruadin) October 30, 2024
How does anyone hear what Biden says in the clip above and determine he isn’t doing anything but calling Trump supporters “garbage?”
The White House version doesn’t make sense in any “context” to quote Lemire.
It’s as simple as what can be heard – Trump supporters are garbage. That’s what Biden said. It’s what he meant.
Sam Short is an Instructor of History with Motlow State Community College in Smyrna, Tennessee. He holds a BA in History from Middle Tennessee State University and an MA in History from University College London.
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